I thought Episode I sucked, and Ep II was not much better, but Ep III was enjoyable if confusing.
Agree that the light sabre scene with Darth Maul was the best of the whole series and the highlight of Ep I.
I wonder what percentage of Star Wars fanatics get laid by HCBs.
Does a metal bikini girl count as HCB?
Perhaps I am alone in this opinion, but after watching the lightsaber fights in Episodes 1-3, I prefer the lightsaber fights from Episodes 5 and 6. The sword play in the old movies was based on actual sword technique and fencing; if we were to actually fight with two-handed swords, the fight would look a lot like the lightsaber battles in the old movies. In addition, the sequences in the old movies would change to reflect the characters’ emotions. For instance, Luke would move differently at the beginning of the Episode 3 fight with Darth Vader, compared to the end of the fight, as he got more desperate and unhinged. These nuances in the old movies helped immerse us in the story, as opposed to the fights in the new movies, which in typical modern blockbuster fasion, comprised the story.
While I appreciate Mr. Park’s acrobatic ability and the obvious high level of coreography in the new movies, the sequences seemed artificial and lacked the emotional connection of the old movies. The new movies failed, as they let CGI effects and action sequences, rather than the story, dominate the narrative. The films were full of poorly thought out characters and plot sequences, and the dialogue was laughable throughout. I felt as though the new movies were just a series of random action sequences that only loosely reinforced the underlying story.
I am not saying that the Episode 1-3 lightsaber fights were not entertaining. It’s just that after the movie is over and you reflect on what you just watched, you realize that it was not anything special that you can’t find in any Hong Kong martial arts film. Any film sequence derives value not just from its isolated merits, but also from how it fits into the overall film. In this respect, the old Star Wars movies were far superior to the prequels.
I get what you are saying, and in general I agree with you. I just think the Darth Maul fight with Qui-Gon was special, in a good way.
In episodes II and III, the light sabres just seem to spin around and deflect everything around them. There really doesn’t seem to be much of a dynamic, as you point out.
Who decided it was a good idea to cover Natalie Portman in paint in Ep1?
Word. Her best role to date was “Black Swan”.
And I agree with everything BChad and Ohai said about the prequels. Somebody (Lucas?) took a good story and turned into too much action and CGI, and not enough about character development. The only time you get a real “feel” for the characters is in Episode 3, and those times are still few and far between.
I’m not sure that I would say that the prequels had “not enough” character development. It was more like they tried too hard to force the character development, and since the script was so poorly written, many of its intentions failed on screen. For instance, in Episode 3, they wanted to show that Anakin had broken Padme’s heart. So, they have Natalie literally say “Anakin, you’re breaking my heart!” This scene was ineffective, as no normal person would even think to say such a thing out loud.
With that being said, I did appreciate a few character development subtleties in the prequels. For example, towards the end of Episode 3, when Anakin is standing on the lava, Obi Wan tells him to surrender, as Obi Wan now holds the advantageous position. Anakin jumps anyway, and Obi Wan chops him up. This scene shows how Anakin had been changed by the Dark Side - he had become arrogant, and this led to his defeat.
^If you actually watch some of the deleted scenes for Ep. 3, you see that Lucas had a lot of scenes in there that showed some of the political battles about how the Republic became the Empire. I thought that he made a mistake about deleting those scenes. (They was kinda reminiscent of the scene in the conference room where Vader chokes out Admiral Motti.)
I also thought that Lucas made a crucial mistake in trying to introduce every single major character in the Star Wars universe (save Han and Lando). I know that he had a dream of the two droids being the unifying thread throughout, but it just didn’t work. He should have abandoned it after Episode 1, the way he abandoned Jar-Jar.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the sequences in the “old” movies had more emotion because there are actual emotional connections between the characters fighting. Although the viewer doesn’t know it at that point, Ben knows who Vader is when he fights him. Luke also knows, subconsciously, who Vader is.
^They do make vague references to Obi-Wan and Vader’s relationship. ( “We meet again, at last.” “When I left you, I was but the learner.”)
After watching Ep. 1-3, the Vader/Obi-wan battle in the Death Star takes on a whole different meaning.
Browntown? where’s that?
_ PLEASE NOTE: _
_ In the original post, I said that Episode 7 would be coming out on December 18. I did not clarify what year. I should have said that it will be released on December 18, 2015. I have edited the original post for clarification. _
_ Again–the expected release date is in December 2015. _
_ Sorry if this created any confusion. _
Next door to Poundtown.
December 18 is getting closer every day.
More proof that George Lucas is made of pure luck and contains zero actual talent:
He originally wanted to name Yoda “Buffy”.
http://www.starwars.com/news/6-bizarre-behind-the-scenes-star-wars-facts
The Force Awakens.
The Saga Continues.
The Countdown Begins.
97 days
Robot Chicken does some great Star Wars scenes. This one is my all-time favorite: